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Marathon great Meb Keflezighi coming to 65 Roses 5k

Leigh Ellington, second from left, associate executive director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Tennessee chapter based in Knoxville, joins Lee University staffers Vanessa Hammond, Bill Estes and Mike Hayes — longtime organizers of the Great Strides Walk and 65 Roses 5k in Cleveland — beside a video image of marathoner Meb Keflezighi, who has agreed to be part of the 2018 event.
Leigh Ellington, second from left, associate executive director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Tennessee chapter based in Knoxville, joins Lee University staffers Vanessa Hammond, Bill Estes and Mike Hayes — longtime organizers of the Great Strides Walk and 65 Roses 5k in Cleveland — beside a video image of marathoner Meb Keflezighi, who has agreed to be part of the 2018 event. Leigh Ellington, second from left, associate executive director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Tennessee chapter based in Knoxville, joins Lee University staffers Vanessa Hammond, Bill Estes and Mike Hayes — longtime organizers of the Great Strides Walk and 65 Roses 5k in Cleveland — beside a video image of marathoner Meb Keflezighi, who has agreed to be part of the 2018 event.

By Ron Bush 3 min read

A 5-kilometer race is 23 miles shorter than a marathon, for which Meb Keflezighi is most noted, but a particular 5k in Cleveland, Tenn., earned his attention for its longevity.

And it has attracted his participation.

Not just the 65 Roses 5k on the Lee University campus but the entire Great Strides Weekend that goes with it next March will benefit from the presence of the 2014 Boston Marathon and 2009 New York City Marathon winner and 2004 Olympic silver medalist.

The Great Strides Weekend will be in its 18th year, the 16th with the 5k run included, and will surpass $1 million in funds raised to bring attention and help for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. More than $940,000 has been raised already through the event, Tennessee CFF associate executive director Leigh Ellington said Wednesday morning at a news conference at Lee.

Among other things, Ellington reported, funded research has led to the development of “game-changing” drugs that have allowed people with cystic fibrosis to live much longer, fuller lives than they formerly could have expected.